Domestic Appliance and a Cookable Product Holding Device Therefor

ABSTRACT

A domestic appliance includes a muffle in which an item support device for supporting cookable products is disposed that includes a depth stop. The depth stop limits movement of the item support device in a depth direction during withdrawal of the holding device extraction and the depth stop is in contact with an additional wall of the muffle by the rear part thereof. In order to ease the insertion of the item support device in the muffle, the depth stop thereof contacts the additional wall located at the rear external side of the muffle.

The invention relates to a domestic appliance having a muffle in which is arranged a removable holding device for a cooking-product support, which device is embodied having a depth stop which in a depth direction delimits withdrawing of the holding device from the muffle and engages behind a fronting wall in the muffle.

What is to be understood by a cooking-product support is, for example, a baking tray, a support grille, a cast-metal roaster, or any other support for food items being cooked or baked. With no restrictions thereto, a baking tray is below for simplicity's sake taken as an example of a cooking-product support.

Modern baking-oven muffles that operate by means of circulating air frequently have on their rear wall a fan wheel of a radial fan that is screened from the muffle's interior by a fronting wall. Said fan is driven by an electric driving motor outside the muffle. The rear baking-oven wall is thus embodied at least in part as double-walled, with a space between the rear wall and fronting wall. Removable holding devices for cooking-product supports are known from the prior art. Thanks to the muffle's retrofitting capability and the fact that neither securing means for insertable baking trays nor special wall designs have to be provided in the muffle, the same muffle shape can be produced, with no appreciable modifications, both for baking ovens that are provided for the catalysis process and for baking ovens that are provided for the pyrolysis process. That is because the cooking-product support can be inserted subsequently in keeping with the specific requirements. Heed is therein paid to its being possible to perform said retrofitting with a few, simple manual operations.

Known from EP 0 811 807 A2 is a movable holding device for a baking tray, which device includes a parallelogram linkage having an arm oriented in a fixed position relative to the baking-oven muffle and a movable mounting arm. The baking tray is rested upon the movable mounting arm and can be moved from a position inserted into the muffle to a withdrawn position in which it protrudes from the baking-oven muffle. The arm oriented in a fixed position has a rearward mounting end by means of which the holding device is removably mounted on a rear baking-oven wall through positive engagement. Embodied for that purpose on the mounting end is a hook that engages in a cutout in a fronting wall in front of the muffle's actual rear wall. Located in the vicinity of the hook is furthermore a projection that interacts with a face-wall counterpart in such a way that an upward movement is prevented. What has proved disadvantageous about that design is that mounting on the fronting wall in the depth of the baking-oven muffle is laborious. That is because a certain dexterity is required to engage the hooks into the associated cutouts in the fronting wall and cause the projections to interact with the corresponding counterparts.

The object of the present invention is therefore to make a domestic appliance available having a removable holding device that is made easier to mount in a domestic-appliance muffle.

Said object is achieved by means of a domestic appliance having the features of claim 1 or, as the case may be, by means of a holding device having the features of claim 15. According to the characterizing features of claim 1, a depth stop of the holding device engages in the installed condition on the outside behind a fronting wall on the muffle's rear-wall side. The fronting wall can according to a simple embodiment variant be embodied as a partition wall separating a fan chamber from the muffle's cooking space.

The invention departs from a design in which the holding device's supporting and/or securing means are/is arranged on a visible surface of the fronting wall. Rather it follows the principle of having the securing means engage into position on a non-visible rear side of the fronting wall. The advantage thereof is that the fronting wall will not need any cutouts or openings whose production entails an additional expense and which could impair the fronting wall's visual impact. Frequent use of the known holding device and in particular repeated mounting thereof can furthermore cause said cutouts very quickly to be rendered unsightly through signs of wear and detract from the cooking device's visual impression. Those disadvantages can be obviated when the inventive securing means engage on the fronting wall's non-visible rear side. Any signs of use and even wear will then remain concealed from an observer looking into the baking oven; what will instead be seen will be of high caliber.

The securing means can for engaging behind the fronting wall have any elements by means of which said means will engage into the space between the muffle's rear wall and the fronting wall. Said elements must, though, divert a tractive force with which the holding device could be pulled from the muffle reliably to the muffle. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention the securing means therefore includes at least one peg that engages behind the fronting wall. A peg constitutes a simple securing option that is easy to manufacture, will make mounting of the holding device easy to understand, and still reliably transfer the undesired tractive force. The securing means preferably has two pegs because that will make a defined rest position possible while avoiding titling moments. Pegs further offer the advantage of being able to be dimensioned sufficiently small in size to be barely noticeable. They can also engage into small spaces between the muffle's rear wall and the fronting wall and can furthermore be easily guided in the depth of the baking-oven muffle and when that is poorly lit.

Since the fronting wall does not entirely cover the baking-oven muffle's rear wall but leaves a broad edge free both laterally and above and below, numerous options are basically available to a securing means for engaging behind the fronting wall. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention the pegs engage into the fronting wall from its underside. The holding device will thereby be rendered easier to mount because a favorable starting position for mounting can be for the holding device to be placed upon the floor of the muffle. The pegs can from said starting position be conveniently directed to their operating position without the user having at the same time to bear the holding device's weight.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the holding device includes longitudinal rails and transverse rails or longitudinal and transverse bars that form a closed frame, with the longitudinal bars serving essentially to support a baking tray and the back transverse bar having the securing means. The holding device will through the embodiment of a closed frame acquire particular stability so that it cannot become distorted in particular during mounting and will not be rendered more difficult to handle as a result.

Mounting of the holding device in the muffle is furthermore made easier through the embodiment of stops that define and maintain the holding device's correct operating position inside the muffle. The holding device's position inside the muffle basically has to be defined in terms of the three dimensions, namely on the one hand in a horizontal longitudinal direction corresponding to a slide-in and pull-out direction of the baking tray, in a transverse direction perpendicular thereto, and in a vertical direction. A stop for the vertical direction is significant particularly in preventing the holding device from tilting when a baking tray is withdrawn only partly from the baking muffle. According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the back transverse bar can for defining the holding device's position in the muffle therefore be situated in its longitudinal direction against the muffle's rear wall. It will in that way be possible to dispense with a separate stop in the slide-in direction since a stop will already have been formed by the bottom transverse bar.

The same advantage can be achieved also for defining the holding device's position in the transverse direction through the longitudinal bars' being situated according to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention against the muffle's side walls.

The back transverse bar can for defining the holding device's position in a transverse direction alternatively have a projection that engages into a cutout in the fronting wall or, as the case may be, a cutout into which the fronting wall engages. Since the fronting wall, as already explained above, does not entirely cover the surface of the muffle's rear wall, the fronting wall's vertical limiting edges can in that way be used as stops for defining the holding device's position.

The distance between the fronting wall and the rear wall of the muffle can also be used for a vertical stop. According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the back transverse bar can for defining the holding device's position in the vertical direction come to rest with its top side against an offset bottom transverse metal sheet of the fronting wall. Existing component edges can thereby also be advantageously used additionally for establishing the holding device's position.

The holding device can be varied in its structure depending on the specific requirements and intended purpose. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention the longitudinal bars, for example, are therefore embodied as telescopic rails for withdrawing the baking tray from the muffle. The baking tray attached within the holding device can as a result be conveniently withdrawn from the baking muffle and, in its withdrawn position, will be easier to remove from the holding device. The holding device can alternatively have a plurality of longitudinal bars so that a plurality of baking trays can be arranged one above the other in the baking muffle. The longitudinal bars can be arranged in the form of a frame and hence embodied as able to be withdrawn jointly, or they can themselves each be embodied as telescopic rails and so able to be withdrawn separately.

As a further way to facilitate operation the front transverse bar is according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention embodied as a gripping strip for withdrawing the holding device. The front transverse bar thus serves on the one hand to stabilize the holding device as a constituent part of the closed frame and, on the other, as a convenient operating element of the holding device.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the holding device is embodied for the use of an additional heating means above the muffle floor and between the longitudinal bars. Said additional heating means, which would be expedient when, for example, a cast-metal roaster is used, can advantageously occupy the space between the longitudinal bars. It is thus subject to virtually no limitations in its physical design and specific embodiment. It can there deliver its heat unimpededly and directly to the underside of the cast-metal roaster. The principle of the invention is explained in yet more detail below with the aid of the drawings by way of example. These show:

FIG. 1 a perspective view of a baking muffle,

FIG. 2 a back section of a holding device and a bottom section of a fronting wall,

FIG. 3 a section along the line III-III shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 a section along the line IV-IV shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 a schematic diagram of the holding device in a mounting position, and

FIG. 6 a schematic diagram of the holding device in its operating position.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a removable holding device 1, which has been inserted into a muffle 2 of a baking oven 3, from the opening side of the muffle 2. The muffle 2 includes side walls 4 of which only the right-hand wall can be seen in this view, a floor 5, a rear wall 6, a covering surface 14 that cannot be seen (FIGS. 5 and 6), and a front hinged cover, not shown for greater clarity, which closes the opening 7 of the muffle 2. The rear wall 6 of the muffle 2 is in part embodied as two-shelled through a fronting wall 8 positioned in front of the rear wall towards the interior of the muffle 2. Arranged in a space 15 between the fronting wall 8 and the rear wall 6 of the muffle 2 is a fan wheel 9, not shown in FIG. 1 (FIGS. 5 and 6), which serves to circulate the air in the baking muffle 2 during fan-assisted operation. Because the fronting wall 8 does not cover the entire area of the rear wall 6 of the muffle 2, between it and the side walls 4, the floor 5, and the covering surface of the baking muffle 2 is a frame-type gap 10 surrounding the fronting wall 8. To provide delimiting from the gap 10, the fronting wall 8 has at least at the bottom a transverse metal sheet, shown in part as a dashed line. Located centrally below the fronting wall 8 in the area of the frame-type gap 10 is a terminal 12 for an additional heating means.

The removable holding device 1 includes a front transverse bar 21, a back transverse bar 22 arranged parallel thereto, and two parallel longitudinal bars 23 and 24. The bars 21, 22, 23, 24 of the holding device 1 together form a stable closed frame. The longitudinal bars 23, 24 have support rails 25 upon which a baking tray can be rested. They are furthermore embodied as telescopic rails so that a baking tray resting upon the support rails 25 can be conveniently withdrawn from the muffle 2 through the opening 7. The baking tray is furthermore made easier to withdraw by the front transverse bar 21, which is embodied as a gripping strip.

So that the removable holding device 1 can be put into the desired operating position while being mounted, its functionally correct positioning in the direction of its width, depth, and height must have been precisely defined. Its vertical height position inside the baking muffle 2 is defined by its being placed with its longitudinal bars 24, 25 and the back transverse bar 22 on the floor 5 of the baking muffle 2. Its horizontal position in the transverse direction inside the muffle 2 is established by the fact that the longitudinal bars 23, 24 run parallel to the side walls 4 and directly rest flat against them. So that they will fit snugly, the longitudinal bars 23, 24 have a cross-section that is matched to the curvature at the transition between the side walls 4 and the floor 5 of the muffle 2 (not shown). A transverse movement of the holding device 1 inside the muffle 2 is precluded thereby.

In particular while the holding device 1 is being operated, for example when the baking tray is being withdrawn from the baking muffle 2, horizontal longitudinal forces can act on the holding device 1 that can displace it in a direction through the opening 7 from inside the baking muffle 2. The holding device 1 needs to be secured against said displacing. The back transverse bar 22 has for that purpose two vertical pegs 26 that slightly project beyond the back transverse bar 22. They engage into cutouts 13 in the bottom transverse metal sheet 11 of the fronting wall 8 from below so that from the space 15 between the rear wall 6 and the fronting wall 8 they are, as it were, supported from behind against the rear side of the fronting wall 8. The back transverse bar 22 is hence clearly established in its appropriate position. These conditions can be seen more clearly in FIG. 2. The transverse bar 22 and the longitudinal bars 23, 24 have for simplicity's sake been shown having narrow rectangular cross-sections. The transverse bar 22 includes a bottom narrow side 27 and a top narrow side 28. It can in this sectional view clearly be seen that the back transverse bar 22 completely fills the frame-type gap 10 in an area below the fronting wall 8. Said bar consequently lies with its bottom narrow side 27 against the floor 5 of the baking muffle 2, in contrast to what is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in which, for better clarity, a gap is shown between the bottom narrow side 27 of the transverse bar 22 and the floor 5 of the baking muffle 2. The transverse bar 22 abuts with its top narrow side 28 directly against the transverse metal sheet 11 (FIG. 4). The holding device 1 is prevented from being slid further towards the rear wall 6 because the transverse bar 22 would, in the event of such a movement, run against the curvature between the floor 5 and the rear wall 6 and be forcibly deflected upward. Said bar will, though, be impeded during that movement by its lying against the bottom transverse metal sheet 11. Movement in the opposite direction will be prevented by the pegs 26. Their engaging into the cutouts 13 will counteract moving of the transverse bar 22 and hence of the entire holding device 1 in the withdrawing direction of the longitudinal bars 23 and 24 embodied as telescopic rails.

The holding device 1 is furthermore additionally fixed in position in the transverse direction through a gradation 29 which the back transverse bar 22 has on its top side. The depressed part of the gradation 29, which part is formed by the top narrow side 28 of the transverse bar 22, is dimensioned as being as long as the width of the fronting wall 8, at least in the bottom section thereof shown. The transverse bar 22 encloses, with the gradation 29, at least the bottom transverse metal sheet 11 of the fronting wall 8 on three sides. The horizontal position of the holding device 1 is hence also clearly defined in the transverse direction solely through resting of the transverse bar 22 against the fronting wall 8.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show two positions of the holding device 1 during insertion. FIG. 5 shows a mounting position in which the holding device 1 is slid downwardly inclined into the muffle 2 towards its rear wall 6. The pegs 26, which are longer than the frame-type gap 10 below the fronting wall 8 is wide, can in said slanted position be inserted beneath the fronting wall 8 and into the space 15. To allow precise guiding by the operator even under the generally poor lighting conditions prevailing inside the muffle 2, the pegs 26 are arranged clearly visibly on the viewing side of the transverse bars 22, meaning, for the operator, outwards from the opening 7. Because the holding device 1 is guided in the transverse direction by its longitudinal bars 23, 24 and/or by the gradation 29 on the transverse bar 22, it will be easy for the operator to insert the pegs 26 into the cutouts 13. Once they have attained said position, the holding device 1 can be lowered in the direction of the arrow A so that the longitudinal bars 23, 24 will rest upon the floor 5 of the muffle 2. The pegs 26 now engage behind the fronting wall 8 so that the holding device 1 cannot be undesirably withdrawn from the muffle 2 in the horizontal direction through the opening 7. In that position a tractive force acting—as a result of, for instance, a baking tray's being withdrawn—upon the holding device 1 in the extending direction of the longitudinal bars 23, 24 embodied as telescopic rails will act as a pressing force against the fronting wall 8 from behind. Owing to consequent impacting of the pegs 26 against the edges of the cutouts 13, signs of wear, which can be caused also by inserting of the holding device 1 or by tractive forces occurring when a baking tray is withdrawn, will at least after frequent actuating appear in the area of the cutouts 13 and on the pegs 26. Said signs will not, though, be visible owing to the arrangement of the cutouts 13 in a non-visible area on the fronting wall 8 and to engaging of the pegs 26 behind the fronting wall 8, so they will not, even after a lengthy period of use, detract from the visual impact of the baking oven 3.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1. Holding device -   2. Muffle -   3. Baking oven -   4. Side walls of the muffle 2 -   5. Floor of the muffle 2 -   6. Rear wall of the muffle 2 -   7. Opening -   8. Fronting wall -   9. Fan wheel -   10. Frame-type gap -   11. Bottom transverse metal sheet -   12. Terminal for additional heating means -   13. Cutout in the bottom transverse metal sheet 11 -   14. Covering surface -   15. Space -   1. Front transverse bar -   2. Back transverse bar -   3. Right-hand longitudinal bar -   4. Left-hand longitudinal bar -   5. Support rail -   6. Peg -   7. Bottom narrow side of the transverse bar 22 -   8. Top narrow side of the transverse bar 22 -   9. Gradation -   A Mounting direction 

1-15. (canceled)
 16. An appliance comprising: a muffle for receiving therein an item to be heated, the muffle having interior wall surfaces that together delimit an interior volume, an access opening located at one end of the interior volume through which access can be had to the interior volume, and a back portion opposite the access opening, the back portion having an interior fronting surface and a setback surface that is at a greater depth from the access opening than the interior fronting surface; an item support device for supporting an item within the muffle, the item support device being disposable in the muffle in an installed position in which the item support device is operable to support an item within the muffle and the item support device being selectively removable from its installed position in the muffle; and a removal resistance element, the removal resistance element being disposable in an operative position in which it resists removal of the item support device from its installed position in the muffle and the removal resistance element, in its operative position, engaging the appliance at a location behind the interior fronting surface of the back portion of the muffle.
 17. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the interior fronting surface of the back portion of the muffle has an underside and the removal resistance element engages behind the underside of the interior fronting surface.
 18. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the removal resistance element is secured in a non-displaceable manner with substantially no free play between the setback surface and the interior fronting surface of the back portion of the muffle.
 19. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the item support device has at least one lateral stop secured against lateral surfaces of the muffle in a non-displaceable manner with substantially no free lateral play for constraining movement of the item support device in a lateral direction in the muffle.
 20. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the item support device has a height stop for constraining vertical movement of the item support device.
 21. The appliance as claimed in claim 20, wherein the height stop of the item support device is arranged between a muffle floor and an underside of the interior fronting surface of the back portion of the muffle.
 22. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the item support device is supported on a floor of the muffle.
 23. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the removal resistance element is configured as a selected one of a peg and a frame bar of the item support device.
 24. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the item support device is configured as a frame having longitudinal and transverse rails.
 25. The appliance as claimed in claim 24, wherein the item support device has a plurality of lateral stops secured against lateral surfaces of the muffle for constraining lateral movement of the item support device in the muffle and the lateral stops are in the form of the longitudinal rails of the item support device.
 26. The appliance as claimed in claim 25, wherein the longitudinal rails of the item support device are applied against lateral surfaces of the muffle in a non-displaceable manner with substantially no free lateral play.
 27. The appliance as claimed in claim 24, wherein a back transverse rail of the item support device is applied against the back portion of the muffle in a non-displaceable manner with substantially no free play.
 28. The appliance as claimed in claim 27, wherein the item support device has a plurality of lateral stops secured in a non-displaceable manner with substantially no free lateral play against lateral edges of the interior fronting surface for constraining lateral movement of the item support device in the muffle and the lateral stops are formed in the back transverse rail of the item support device.
 29. The appliance as claimed in claim 16, wherein the item support device has telescopic rails for guided support of the item support device during a withdrawal movement thereof from the muffle.
 30. An item support device for supporting an item within a muffle of an appliance, the item support device comprising: a body portion disposable in an interior volume delimited by interior wall surfaces of a muffle of an appliance that receives therein an item to be heated, the body portion being disposable in the muffle in an installed position in which the body portion is operable to support an item within the muffle and the body portion being selectively removable from its installed position in the muffle via an access opening of the muffle located at one end of the interior volume of the muffle through which access can be had to the interior volume; and a removal resistance element, the removal resistance element being disposable in an operative position in which it resists removal of the body portion from its installed position in the muffle and the removal resistance element, in its operative position, engaging the appliance at a location behind an interior fronting surface of a back portion of the muffle that is opposite the access opening, the interior fronting surface of the back portion being in front of a setback surface of the back portion of the muffle that is at a greater depth from the access opening than the interior fronting surface. 